WSJ Talks to Scott Michel After Two Firms Plead Guilty to Helping U.S. Clients Hide Millions in Offshore Accounts

Wall Street Journal spoke with Scott D. Michel concerning the guilty pleas entered in New York federal court by two Cayman Islands financial firms who acknowledged their role in helping U.S. taxpayers hide more than $130 million in offshore accounts. Mr. Michel, who has represented clients in offshore criminal tax matters arising in the Caymans for 35 years, commented on the implications of the agreement between the Cayman firms and the DOJ Tax Division, which produced the first convictions of  financial firm outside of Switzerland.  Noting the long history of U.S. efforts to curb secret Cayman accounts, Mr. Michel noted that these "felony guilty pleas plus Cayman's agreement to abide by the Fatca offshore-account reporting regime mean that this is the end of Cayman bank secrecy for U.S. taxpayers." For the full article, please visit Wall Street Journal's website (subscription required).